History

Created in 1961 by local parents wanting to provide a theater experience for their children, FPCT has grown into the leading theater arts education organization in North Alabama. Operating as a community theater in an area of the state where professional theater is limited to touring and presenting houses, FPCT attracts the area’s highest caliber of volunteer artists, technicians and performers to execute a four show production slate each year at the Von Braun Center Playhouse in Huntsville, Alabama for over 12,000 audience members every year. Each production requires roughly 350 volunteers both on and off stage. Individual casts feature local talent in age appropriate roles, which often leads to families serving together multi-generationally. Auditions and volunteer recruitment are open to the public and no fees are ever required for participation. In addition to presenting discounted matinee performances for 2600 North Alabama public, private and homeschool students annually, our Academy provides 1500+ theater arts educational opportunities each year to students with classes ranging from early music/creative play to advanced Shakespearean acting technique, sewing and stage makeup design.

Since the beginning, FPCT has focused on using live theatre and arts education to impact the lives of the children we serve. In 2012, Former State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tommy Bice called for community arts organizations to help support schools with elementary arts education. Our after-school theater program, Fantasy in the Classroom (FIC), was specifically created to answer that challenge. Since its inception in the Fall of 2012 as a single class at Hampton Cove Elementary, FIC programming has been expanded by to include schools in all three major school systems (Huntsville City, Madison City, and Madison County), as well as independent and private institutions. It is the only program of its kind in the state and was recognized as an ASCA Community Arts Grant recipient in 2017.

Recognized by the State of Alabama Council on the Arts as a former Governor’s Award recipient and the Madison (City) Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 Award for Service and Leadership, FPCT’s legacy is ever evolving to meet the developing and changing needs of the community that epitomizes the innovation and creative thinking that launched men into space.